KilnZone Rules

2) When not firing, all private materials and components need to be removed to member's storage. The metal rack is for PUBLIC materials only.

3) Use Boron Nitride for public molds. Use Kiln paper for Kiln floor.

4) Clean or apply Boron Nitride OUTSIDE. No Exceptions. ALWAYS use a mask. SEE SAFETY

5) When using glass powder and other materials of 100 Micron or less, use a mask. And don't work near other people. (Farther than 20' and near ventilation if possible). SEE SAFETY.

6) Do Not open a working Kiln unless you are the current user or there is an emergency.

6) If you are using a Kiln and need to leave the building, Make sure Your name and cell # is on the KILN IN USE Whiteboard and the Kiln In Use Side is outward.

7) Do not put cardboard or paper in the cage. Plastic is OK if more than 18" from the Kiln.

8) ABSOLUTELY NO FLAMMABLES IN THE CAGE.

IN CASE OF EMERGENCY

1) If needed call 911.

2) If possible and effective, turn off Programmable Controller with green switch.

3) Else, if possible turn OFF Kiln 1 by turning all 3 knobs on Kiln 1 to ZERO. You should hear a click and see the red light go out.

3) To contain fire, if necessary, use the fire extinguisher located at KilnZone.

4) Call current user at the cell number located on the clip board on the gate of the KilnZone.

Safety

There are 5 areas where we are developing guidelines for respiratory safety. Two main issues, particle size for normal respiratory irritation, and silicosis with silica particulates. Close exposure to small particles, less than 10 microns, and continued exposure to particles less than 50 microns can cause respiratory irratation. To give a rule of thumb, 90% of wheat flour particles are 10-40 microns for typical flour.

Continued exposure to silica particles less than 100 microns can cause silicosis. These are a more serious issue the smaller the particle and the longer the exposure.

Cleaning molds of Boron Nitride (BN) after a firing or spraying molds with BN is using an aerosol with BN particles of about 10 micron. At present we do all of this outside and with a mask. In the future we may have a HEPA draft box to do this inside.

Cleaning post-fired Kiln Paper. This is silica particles of 100 microns. We use a mask and use wet paper towels direct to trash. We may get a HEPA shopvac in the future. DO NOT use a regular shop vac.

Working with Frit Powder. This is silica particles of about 100 microns. Currently, we use a mask and try to keep 20 feet from unmasked personnel currently. This may be overkill. I am looking for more data and may revise this to simply using masks in future. We wet-wipe clean all work surfaces with paper towel to trash after and do not return any plastic spoons or cups to kitchen.

Working with Silica Flour for creating molds. Same protocol as Frit powder. Silica flour has a distribution of sizes from 10 micron to 125 micron typically.

Working with Plasters/Cements. Plaster of Paris has somewhat larger particle sizes than cement. Only small amounts of silica. Mask recommended. No boundary issues. Normal powder mixing issues.

All mask should be at least N95, prefferrably N100.

Kiln and Glass Casting Classes

Starting 5/29/13 We will have Kiln Training and Glass Casting class almost every Wed at 7PM-9PM for the foreseeable future. Members only. Bring your own mask, N95 or better. Materials will be supplied. No fee. No Walkons. Sign Up by eventbrite. 6 members per class. Classes Lock down at 5PM of the day prior.

Note: 7/3 will be the only class in July 2013.

Kiln Gallery

How to Program the Kiln Controller

Ver 1.0

by Terry W.

Step 1) Turn ON controller with Green button. You should see the current temp in PV display.

Step 2) Push the SET button. You should see PASS in the PV display and 0000 in the SV display.

Step 3) Our convention will be > for the rightward arrow button, ^ for the upward and v for the downward, since I can't type that one. Use >, ^, and v to type in 2000 and hit SET.

Firing Schedules.

You will see in books on glass, things called firing schedules. They look like this:

You read that as a set of instructions:

Ramp up the temperature from room temp to 1250F at a rate of 300F per hour.

THEN hold 1250F for 30 minutes.

THEN ramp from there to 1420F at a rate of 300F per hour.

THEN hold it for 30-60 minutes.

THEN ramp as fast as you can from there to 960F

THEN hold it for 90 minutes

THEN ramp at 50F/hr to 800F

SKIP holding it.

THEN ramp at 100F/hr to 600F

THEN turn it OFF and don't open the kiln until Room Temp (No Venting).

Your Kiln Controller needs to be programmed in a series of steps. Each steps has 3 attributes, C,T,Sv.
So your list of instructions will look like

C1,T1,Sv1

C2,T2,Sv2

C3,T3,Sv3

.

.

.

Let me define what each of those are.

C is the PID setting we use. We always use PID#1, which I have preprogrammed into the controller. Please do NOT change PID#1.

T is time, in minutes. More later.

Sv is a target temperature in F. I believe Sv is short for “Set Value”. And Pv is Present Value....of what you are trying to control, in our case Temp F.

So from our example

C1=0001, T1, Sv1=0070 (room temp)

C2=0001, T2, Sv2=1250

Now Let me explain what T is. T1 is supposed to be the time (in minutes) we are telling the controller to get from Sv1 to Sv2.

So our programming looks like this:

C1=0001, T1=240, Sv1=0070 (room temp)

C2=0001, T2=30, Sv2=1250

C3=0001, T3= 60 , Sv3=1250

.

.

.

Note that I am rounding to the nearest half hour because kiln work isn't that fussy
...until you get to Pate de Verre, which is not covered in this lesson.

Once you have put in all steps, scroll up to END and hit SET. This enters your program. The controller will keep it, even if switched off.

Once programmed, you can

1) Make sure the Thermocouple (yellow plug) is plugged into the yellow socket (check polarity).

2) Make sure the data signal (blue cat5e wire) is plugged into the Controller and the Relay Box.

3) Make sure the Relay box is plugged into the wall and the circuit breaker is set to ON.

4) Roll the cart OUT of the cage.

5) Make sure the top of the kiln is plugged into the bottom.

6) Make sure all 3 knobs are set to 10 (or to 11 if you are a Spinal Tap fan).

Equipment (owner)

Consumables(i3 owned)

Boron Nitride

Various Grits

Kiln Paper

Kiln Store

TBD

Tools

Furniture Brush

Mask

Scale

Gloves

Pyrometer

Kiln Sitter (Not Installed)

Rolling Rack

Kiln Furniture

Slumping Molds

Warden's Report

July 1, 2013 - About 25 people have taken Kiln Training and are authorized to run the kiln solo. We have about 10 public casting molds of various shapes. These are on loan. There are about 3 dozen Glass Frit colors. These are owned by i3. We will start a cash box soon for their use. Each small jar costs about 8 dollars, so the costs will be prorated, probably like $2 per casting, including Boron Nitride use.

If your glass sticks in a mold, I now know new ways of recovery, please email me.

Remember we have Standardized on COE 96. Please contact me if you are going to use a non-standard COE.

Remember to change the kiln paper about once every 2-4 firings. Change it carefully because it gets powdery when used up.

We are petitioning the Membership in the July meeting to extend the fence by about 3 feet to accomodate Kiln 2.

With the addition, Kiln 2 is planned to be operational in Sept.

As of July 1, all items in the Kiln Zone which have not been ID'd and inventoried on this page as belonging to a member and on loan, will be ID'd and inventoried as belonging to i3. See me before July 15 if this presents any problems.

As of July 1, we should have all items in the KZ with either a Donation Log entry or a Loaner Form on file with the Board and me.

Damage lower wall and heating element, left side of kiln1. Reset brick for temporary fix. Should be good for July.

Need to get HEPA shopvac for removal of Kiln Paper.

Future Plans:

Extend Fence

Kiln 2 operational

HEPA shop vac

Cash Box

HEPA spray table

2nd Rolling Wire Cart

Kiln Tray w/Leveling

Sheet Glass Storage

Expense Report (i3 Funds)

Q4 2012, $150 (fencing)
Q1 2013, $0
Q2 2013, $0

June, 2013 $0

-END JULY 2013-

August 1, 2013 This report will have all info that happened after July 1, but on or before Aug 1, 2013. I will accumulate information as the month goes and present the report in the first Member Meeting of August.

Kiln lower wall has some damage. Kiln good to go, but eventually will need maintenance. Thermocouple had problem. Replaced same.

Need to add time lapse camera to check if the kiln cycle is operating as expected over a day's worth of pictures.